During printing operations paper is fed into the printer and travels through the printer on a preselected path. The preselected path is typically one in which two of the edges of the paper are substantially in line with the travel direction of the paper and two of the edges of the paper are substantially normal to the travel direction of the paper. It is common for the paper to move out of alignment while traveling through the paper handler and the printer. When the paper moves out of alignment it often has adverse effects on the printer and/or the paper. For example, the printer can jam, the paper can become wrinkled and/or the paper can become torn. The problems related to paper moving out of alignment are magnified when the paper is longer than a typical single sheet of paper for example in a continuous feed paper, fanfold paper, or paper on a roller. When the printer becomes jammed or the paper is damaged, valuable man hours and information can be lost as a result.
When printing on a paper having a preexisting design such as a page of labels it is often difficult to align the printed text with the proper location on the labels. The operator typically types the text to be printed on the label in a word processing program, then prints them on a sheet of labels to test the location. If the printed text is in line with the labels, the operator prints more labels. If the printed text is out of alignment with the labels, the operator must adjust the location of the text on the word processor and try again. This process can take several iterations and waste several sheets of labels before the location of the printed text is in the proper location on the labels.
Therefore, there is a need for making adjustments to the alignment of the paper during the printing operation.